Spelling Lesson Plans

Get Kids Spelling Right in 15 Minutes a Day

Spelling lesson plans don't have to be a struggle...although I struggled to find the right approach for a few years. I was surprised to learn how many atrocious spellers arrived in my 3rd and 4th grade classrooms, and none of the standard programs were getting the necessary results.

What you see here is the final process. It works for grades 3 to 6 - and it has been very successful in my classroom.

You can buy this spelling program - ready to use - from my store.

Best of all from a teacher's perspective...once you get flowing with these spelling lesson plans, they are quick, easy and they extend kids spelling pattern knowledge to other content areas.

What about the kids? They love it! They get to partner with another student and it's fun. Let's review the day-by-day spelling lesson plans.

Monday

Each of these steps is based on your own state's or districts spelling word lists. These lists commonly include groups of words broken down into rules or patterns, as illustrated below. If you have this list, that's all you need to apply this approach.

1. Introduce the spelling rule or pattern of the week.

Write it on the whiteboard or present using an interactive whiteboard lesson. An example: Words that contain the long "a" sound: a - ai - ay.

2. As a class, brainstorm as many words as you can that match the pattern(s).

Each student who proposes a word must state why it matches the pattern:

"Rain is an ai word because it's spelled r-a-i-n."

Write the words on the board as they come up with them, or have them write them on their own lap-sized whiteboards if you have them.

3. Hand out the spelling word lists.

The rule for this sheet is long a (a-ai-ay)

This single piece of paper (one piece for each set of partners) is the key to the rest of the week's spelling lesson plans. (Go to the spelling lessons resources page to download a do-it-yourself set.)

4. Partners go to work:

• They each copy all words twice onto a single piece of notebook paper. You must go around the classroom checking every paper to be sure they are copying correctly...don't let them practice wrong! You'll learn quickly who must be checked.
• Each must verbally use every word in a proper and meaningful sentence.
• They cut up the cards on the lines (each student does half the sheet).
• They bundle the cards with a rubber band or place the cards in a Ziploc bag; they place the bag in the spelling-word bucket (the bundles of words become community property).
• They each place their paper with the written words into their "work-in-progress" folder in their desk.

Tuesday

• Partners sort cards by the rules of the week. Take a look at this video for an explanation.

• Each partner copies all words in their categories onto a new piece of notebook paper.
• Re-bundle, bag and bucket the word cards.
• Papers go into the work-in-progress folders.

Wednesday and Thursday

• On Wednesday, partners sort words into alphabetical order (alphabetizing is a very important skill). They copy the words onto their papers, put the papers into their individual work-in-progress folders, then re-bundle, bag and bucket the word cards.
• On Thursday, partners sort words by parts of speech...whichever ones they have been taught so far. We usually start with noun, verb and other. Eventually you can add additional parts of speech. Copy words, papers into folders, re-bundle, etc.

Test time!

Spelling lesson plans are finalized on the Friday spelling test, which includes application of the patterns of the week to non-list words.

Spelling lesson plans take a little prep up front...mainly getting the words onto the sheets to be cut into cards. After that - and after a couple weeks of this routine - your spelling program will run smoothly.

You can buy this spelling program - ready to use - from my store.

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